Traitor
by 88Keys
Summary: Unresolved anger and resentment are driving the Lab Rats apart, and Chase is feeling like the odd man out. When an old enemy shows up with a tempting offer, will Chase commit the ultimate betrayal? Or is he in way over his head? Continuation of my fic "Last Words."
1. The Failed Mission

**IMPORTANT Author's Note: This story is a continuation of my fic "Last Words," which is my re-telling of the events of the episode "Avalanche." You don't necessarily have to read "Last Words" to understand this story, but you should know that, in my version, Adam and Bree rescue Chase from the avalanche. Not Douglas. Douglas hasn't shown up. Yet. :)**

**This was also written before "No Going Back" and "Sink or Swim" aired, so it will not line up with those episodes. Consider it AU, if you like.**

**This story is mostly complete, so updates should be frequent. It is also the LONGEST thing I've ever written. Special thanks to musicnotes093 for her feedback and encouragement when I got frustrated and wasn't sure I could keep going. I don't think I could have made this journey without you. Please check out her fic "Trial and Error." It's excellent. :)  
**

**Enough blabbering! On with the story!**

* * *

Traitor

By 88Keys

**PROLOGUE**

_He could be a very patient man, when he needed to be._

_After his brother left, taking his life's work and most of Davenport Industries with him, he had to start over again. All he had was his brains, his programming ability, and a desire for revenge. It was difficult, but losing everything forced him to work hard and to be resourceful. He found abilities he never knew he had. Made new connections and found new financial backers (all off-the-record and unofficial, of course). He was able to create weapons and technology that he never dreamed of before. _

_And during those long, hard years, that desire for revenge had grown. It burned hot inside of him, but he forced himself to go slow and keep it under control. Eventually he made the breakthroughs needed to merge his bionic technology with state-of-the-art robotics, resulting in a powerful android. Still, he took his time. Sent his android pseudo-son to do surveillance, while he learned everything he could about his brother and the opulent life he was now living._

_Finally, he had discovered a weakness. A way in. So he made his move, and he almost had them. But ultimately, his attempt, his grand plan, had ended in failure and even more loss. _

_So he backed off. Bided his time, again. Looked back over what had happened, replaying it in his mind again and again. He saw his mistakes. He had not considered all of the variables. More importantly, he had tried to take them all on at once. Even with the help of his bionic android, the combined skills of the other Davenports had been too much for him. _

_That was his mistake. As a united front, they were too much for him._

_But in his months of watching them, he had noticed another weakness. It had not registered as anything more than petty sibling bickering at first. But now, replaying it in his mind, he saw the cracks in the façade. The chink in the collective armor. _

_Together, they were strong._

_It was time to divide and conquer._

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE- _The Failed Mission_**

"Guys…what happened?" Donald Davenport asked the young members of his team of bionic super-humans as he surveyed their appearance with dismay. One was cradling her injured wrist against her torso. Another had dried blood stains on his face, where the red liquid had dripped out of his nose. The third seemed uninjured, but he kept glancing between the other members of the team with annoyance, and back at their creator with fear.

"WHAT? HAPPENED?" Donald said sternly when no one answered him the first time.

All of three of them started talking at once. They were all pointing fingers and trying to explain why it was someone else's fault.

"ENOUGH!" Donald cried, silencing them. He pointed to Chase, who was always considered the team leader on these missions. "You go first. What happened? "

"We got to the warehouse and started investigating just like you said, Mr. Davenport," Chase explained. "I found the room with the computer mainframe and started looking through the records there. You were right; they are involved in a lot of shady business operations, including improper use and disposal of illegal chemicals. Those two," he pointed a finger at his older brother and sister for emphasis, "were supposed to keep a look out for the guards. But they got bored and started goofing off."

"We were not goofing off," Bree said defensively.

"You were texting Owen, and Adam was going around to all the offices looking for candy," Chase replied. "How is that not goofing off?"

"There was nobody else around and nothing else to do while you were downloading the records," Adam said.

"If there was nobody else around, then how do you explain those guys who jumped us?" Chase said, his voice rising in pitch and intensity. "You could have warned me they were coming!"

"YOU were in the room with all the security monitors," Bree said. "You should have seen them coming and warned us!"

"OK, OK, settle down," Donald sighed. "So you got interrupted and jumped by the guards. Then what happened?"

"Bree super-speeded Adam and herself out of there, and left me to fight three huge thugs by myself!"

Bree glared at him. "That is NOT true, Mr. Davenport. Adam got hit right in the nose and was having trouble. I knocked the guy out and got Adam out of there. I was coming back for Chase, I swear. But I ran in to more trouble outside. By the time we fought those guys off, Chase was already out."

"You could have come back sooner!"

"I could NOT!"

"Could to!"

"GUYS!" Donald cried. "Chase, please tell me you got the records downloaded so we have proof to present to the authorities."

Chase looked down guiltily. "I kinda…left the flash drive behind."

Donald sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. "This is the second mission in a row that we've had to abort. I don't why, but you guys are getting sloppy. You're not working together as a team or following directions.

"That's what I've been telling them, Mr. Davenport-" Chase began.

"This goes for you too, Chase," Donald said sternly. "I expect more from you. It's up to you to keep the team together and to see these missions through from start to finish."

"But that's not fair!" Chase cried. "I can't do everything by myself! They were the ones goofing off. Why aren't they getting in trouble?"

"You're ALL in trouble," Donald explained sternly. "Tomorrow is Saturday. We're going to take the whole day to train, and we're not going to stop until you all are working together again, the way you used to."

All three of them started at him in shock. An entire Saturday spent training instead of doing anything fun! But they knew better than to argue. Adam and Bree both turned to glare at their little brother, who glared back with hostility.

"Now, Adam, Bree, you better let me take a look at your nose and your wrist. Chase, are you hurt anywhere?"

"No," Chase mumbled.

"Good. You can start putting the mission gear away. Get some rest tonight; you're going to need it for tomorrow."

"Thanks a lot, Chase," Bree said angrily after Donald had left the lab.

"Me?! Why is it my fault? You guys were the one who weren't paying attention."

"You were the one who left the flash drive behind! Getting that info was the whole reason we went on the mission in the first place!"

"Yeah!" Adam joined in.

"Well you guys could have helped, you know. I get sick of having to do everything myself while you two play around."

"Are you serious?" Bree asked. "We fight the bad guys. We clear the area. I super-speed you in and out. All you do is stand there, tell us what to do, then grab some files and bring them back to Mr. Davenport so he can give you all the credit. Adam and I get sick of doing all the hard stuff and never getting any recognition for it."

"Yeah, Chase," Adam agreed. "And we're tired of you acting like you're smarter than us, too!"

Chase rolled his eyes. "I am smarter than you two."

"We KNOW, OK? You point it out all the time," Adam said. "All you ever do is make us feel dumb and look bad in front of Mr. Davenport."

"You guys do a great job of looking bad all on your own. Maybe if you weren't so _stupid,_" Chase said, pointing at Adam, "and you weren't so shallow and boy-crazy, Bree, I wouldn't have to make all the hard decisions and do all the work by myself!"

When he saw the expressions on his siblings' faces, Chase instantly regretted his words. He wished he could go back and erase them, but it was too late. The words hung there like an angry black cloud, casting a pall over the already tense room.

Bree looked genuinely hurt. She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. Adam's expression darkened in anger, and Chase braced himself for another toss across the room. But instead of attacking, Adam merely turned around and stormed out of the lab and into the elevator. The doors closed, and Bree and Chase heard a loud c_rack_ as Adam punched the "up" button so hard that it broke.

Bree turned back to look at her younger brother. Her eyes held the same angry look that Adam's had, and Chase was struck by how much his siblings looked alike in that moment.

"You know, Chase, Mr. Davenport should create a humility app for you. Because you're an arrogant jerk most of the time." She super-speeded up the stairs and outside before Chase could even begin to think of a reply.

END CHAPTER


	2. The Feud

**CHAPTER TWO – The Feud**

The feud lasted for three days, surprising everyone in the household with its duration and intensity.

That first evening, none of them spoke to each other. Or at least, neither Bree nor Adam spoke to Chase. He also avoided them both by shutting himself up in his capsule with a book for the rest of the night.

The next day, they awoke to find that their all-day training session had been cancelled. Mr. Davenport had been called to one of his facilities in Denver on urgent business. Bree escaped to Owen's house, Adam and Leo spent the day at the mall, and Chase stayed home studying and reading. They ate dinner in silence and went to sleep early. Sunday was spent much like Saturday, except that pranks were added to the mix. Chase's school books went missing, only to finally be spotted on top of the roof, hours later. Bree found that her bottles of nail polish had been opened and the contents dumped into a bowl and mixed together. The new color was labeled "swirlie." Adam found his capsule full of chocolate pudding, which made him happy rather than angry.

Both Tasha and Leo tried to find ways to get the siblings to speak to each other, but their efforts were met either with silence or with sarcasm. Tasha threatened grounding if the pranks didn't stop. Mr. Davenport returned that evening, and they all spoke courteously to him, but he could tell something was not right.

Monday morning brought another silent breakfast, except for a loud burst of coughing from Chase after he took a swallow his orange juice. Somehow a large spoonful of salt had been mixed into it, but no one seemed to know how. Tasha finally sent them all off to school with instructions to come straight home afterwards. As soon as they were out the door, she turned to her husband worriedly.

"Donald, don't you think you should talk to them?" she asked as she cleared the breakfast dishes off the counter. "Get them to work this out? I've never seen anything like this. Even Adam…I mean, he usually can't stay mad at anyone for more than five minutes."

"They're teenagers, Tasha," Donald responded as he poured himself another cup of coffee. "They're going to fight sometimes. Didn't you and your sister ever fight?"

"Of course we did. But we always made up by the end of the day. My father was a big believer in not going to bed angry." Tasha smiled as she remembered a particularly nasty dispute that seemed silly now. "We tried not speaking to each other once. Only lasted about half an hour. We just couldn't keep from talking to one another. And once we started talking again, we forgot why we were mad in the first place."

"Figures," Donald mumbled. His wife and her sister couldn't seem to go a day without calling each other now, though he could never figure out what they could possibly have to talk about when they had just spoken the day before. "Look, that last mission was pretty stressful, and they kids are just blowing off steam. I'm sure they will work it out on their own."

"Like you and your brother did?" she challenged, placing a hand on her hip and staring at him.

Donald nearly choked on the sip of coffee he had just taken. "That's a totally different situation," he sputtered when he was able to speak again.

"Is it?"

"YES. For one thing, my brother is crazy. For another thing…well, he started it!"

"It doesn't matter who started it; someone needs to finish it. And the same goes for the kids. This has gotten way out of hand, Donald." She gave him that look again, the one to which he could never say no

Donald sighed. "OK, OK. If they're still not speaking tonight, I'll talk to them."

"Thank you." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and picked up her purse to head out for the day.

Donald considered her words as he sipped his coffee. He honestly couldn't imagine this battle between Adam, Bree, and Chase turning into the kind of full-scale years-long war he and his brother were in. For one thing, none of the kids were anything like Douglas.

_Well, maybe Chase is, a little bit,_ he thought. Both had extreme intelligence and a desire to be the best at pretty much everything. And both had the desire for attention and a chip on their shoulder that seemed to come with being the youngest.

But Chase had something that Douglas lacked; compassion. Chase knew the difference between right and wrong, and didn't try to cheat or hurt others to build himself up. _And Chase isn't a psychopath._ Donald had made sure that none of the kids became anything like what Douglas had intended them to be.

Donald drained the last of his coffee and headed to his lab to start the day's work. He would talk to the kids that night, and he was confident that they could resolve their differences and start working together as a team again.

* * *

Adam glanced at the clock on the dashboard of his car. 3:30 pm. School had let out five minutes ago. Usually, he gave all of his siblings a ride home if they needed it. Today Bree had gone to Caitlin's house. Leo was in the front passenger seat. Chase hadn't come out of the building yet.

Normally this would have been no big deal to Adam. He wasn't in any particular hurry to get home. But he and Bree were still locked in this war with Chase, and he sensed the opportunity for a strike against his brother.

3:31. Adam started the car.

Leo looked up in surprise. "Aren't you going to wait for Chase?"

Adam shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Don't you think this has gone on long enough?" Leo asked. "I mean, do you even remember what you guys are fighting about?"

Adam thought for a moment. He honestly couldn't remember how the fight had started. "Umm…well, we were….umm…."

"See? I knew it. You don't even know why you're mad."

Adam snapped his fingers. "I do remember! He called me stupid." He frowned and looked down at the steering wheel.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it, Adam," Leo said.

"Yes he did. He always treats me like I'm dumb, and I'm sick of it." 3:32. Adam shifted the car into gear and started to pull out of the parking lot.

Leo sighed and glanced out of the window towards the school's main door. He saw the door open and a familiar person step out.

"Wait, there's Chase," he told Adam.

But Adam just stepped on the gas and flew out of the parking lot, squealing the car's tires in the process.

* * *

Chase stepped out of the school just in time to see his ride go flying out of the parking lot. "Adam!" he cried, even though he knew it was useless. He quickly pulled his cell phone out of his backpack and called his brother.

"What are you doing? I'm right here," he said after Adam answered the phone.

"Oh, Chase, was I supposed to take you home today?"

"You know you were. You always give me a ride home. Now come back and get me." Chase gritted his teeth and added a tense 'please' to his request.

"Sorry, but Leo and I really need to get home." Adam grinned as he spoke. This was fun!

"What am I supposed to do?" Chase cried.

"I don't know. Why don't you use your superior intelligence to find a way home?" Adam pushed "disconnect" and laughed to himself as he drove towards the Davenport Mansion. Beside him, Leo sighed worriedly.

"Fantastic," Chase mumbled as he dropped his phone back into his bag and began walking. The walk home was manageable, but long. It would probably take him the better part of an hour, even if he walked at a brisk pace. There was a chilly breeze blowing, and he hadn't brought a jacket with him.

Chase crossed his arms and bent his head down against the wind. He had been on the verge of breaking down and apologizing to his siblings, but this latest incident made him change his mind. How could Adam be so petty and childish? And how could he and Bree team up against him like this? It was always two against one, and he was the odd man out.

Lost in his thoughts, Chase didn't notice the car that was slowly following behind him. It stayed behind him until they were out of sight of the school and into a less populated area. Then the car pulled up beside him and the driver's side window came down.

"Need a ride?"

Chase jerked his head up in surprise. He stopped walking and nearly dropped his backpack.

"What are you doing here?!" he exclaimed.

From the driver's seat of the dark-colored sedan, Douglas Davenport grinned at him.

"I'm offering my son a ride home from school."

END CHAPTER


	3. The Offer

**Author's note:** **Thank you for the great responses so far! This chapter is kinda filler, but things will pick up soon. **

**Also, to my guest reviewer "Jayne," thank you for such wonderful reviews. If you have an account, please log in so I can PM you. :)**

* * *

CHAPTER THREE- The Offer

"I'm not your son," Chase growled at the spiky-haired man. "And I don't need a ride." He began walking again, trying to look casual while taking note of his surroundings and debating his options. Was this some kind of trap? Was Douglas about to attack him? How had he even known where Chase would be at that time?

"Are you sure? It's a pretty long walk to your house, and it's kinda cold today."

"I don't take rides from strangers. Or psychopaths," Chase replied, still staring resolutely ahead while he walked.

"Suit yourself," Douglas said, still driving slowly, keeping his car close to Chase. "But maybe we could talk for a few minutes?"

"We have nothing to talk about, and nothing you have to say could possibly interest me."

"Are you sure?" Douglas asked. "It sounds like you and your family aren't getting along very well right now. Brother and sister giving you a hard time? Donald not giving you enough credit? Believe me, I know what that's like."

"How do _you_ know about that?" Chase asked, finally glancing at Douglas. "Have you been spying on us?"

"I heard you talking to your brother on the phone. And yeah, I may have 'accidently overheard' a few things that happened at home."

"You mean you bugged the lab." Chase wasn't really surprised by this information. Donald had gone through the lab and removed every bug and camera that he could find, but Marcus had been pretty clever in hiding them. And Douglas was a great computer programmer, able to break into Eddie's system. Who knows how many different ways he had been watching and listening to them?

Douglas grinned. "You call it 'spying.' I call it 'surveillance.' Can you blame me for wanting to know what goes on in my children's lives?"

Chase stopped walking and glared at Douglas again. "We are NOT your children. Let it go, man."

Douglas pulled the car over and parked on the street, just ahead of Chase's position on the sidewalk. He got out of the car. Chase backed up a few steps and scanned the area around him, ready to bolt if necessary. But Douglas approached him slowly and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"What if I told you that I can offer you more, Chase?"

Chase eyed him suspiciously. "More what?"

"More abilities. Upgrades to your bionic chip. I can offer you all of Adam and Bree's abilities, plus more as I develop them in the future. You would be an even better mission leader. Or you could go out on your own. You wouldn't need a team if you could do all of their jobs by yourself, would you?"

Chase considered this for a moment. "Why me?" he finally asked. "Why didn't you just give Adam and Bree all those abilities in the first place?"

"Adam and Bree were early versions," Douglas explained. "You know how later versions of software programs are usually better, because the developer has time to work out the bugs and glitches? It's kind of like that. I learned from the mistakes I made when I programmed their bonics. By the time I got to you, I was ready to upload even more abilities into one person, plus add the capacity for upgrades later."

Douglas leaned in closer. "I can make you even more intelligent than you already are, Chase. And stronger and faster than anyone else in the world. There would be no one as extraordinary as you on the whole planet."

"And then you would control me, and make me into your super-soldier, just like you wanted to do in the first place."

"Is that what my brother told you?"

"Yes. And I know it's true. You tried to control us before. Remember when you kidnapped Mr. Davenport and trapped us all in your basement? Because I sure remember it."

Douglas laughed. "It's true that I had the ability to control your bionics with my Triton app. But I only did that because you never would have come with me in the first place. Donald has poisoned your mind against me."

"Or maybe he was telling us the truth the whole time," Chase replied.

"He broke the remote, and I assume he removed the ap from your systems, right?"

Chase didn't answer, though it was true. It had taken him days, but Mr. Davenport had finally figured out how to remove the Triton program from each of their systems.

"If I wanted super-soldiers, I could just make an army of androids like Marcus. They're tougher, faster, and can handle more abilities at once. Yes, they burn out quickly, but you can always make more of them." Douglas looked him directly in the eyes. "You and your siblings were my real life's work. And you, Chase, were the pinnacle of that work. At least, you were supposed to be, but my brother took you all away before I could finish."

Douglas placed a hand on Chase's shoulder. Chase glanced down at it uneasily, but did not pull away. "I just want to finish the work I started. The work that was stolen from me. Let me make you all that you were meant to be, Chase."

Chase looked away and swallowed hard, thinking. _It would be nice to have more abilities…to be able to keep up with Adam and Bree…to not be picked on anymore…_

Douglas was still staring intently at him, waiting for a reply. Chase pulled back and shook his head. "I can't leave my family."

"The same family that makes fun of you? Doesn't listen to you? The same family that left you to walk home by yourself today?" Douglas laughed. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"You wouldn't understand." Chase shifted his backpack up higher on his shoulder and turned to walk away.

"An older sibling who puts you down, constantly steals the spotlight, and thinks they're better than you? No, I wouldn't know anything about that," Douglas said sarcastically.

Chase paused, ready to throw out an angry reply, and was surprised when none came out. "Whatever," he finally mumbled. "I've got to get home."

"OK," Douglas said. "But take this, in case you ever change your mind." He held out what appeared to be a small piece of paper. Chase cautiously accepted it. The only thing written on the paper was a phone number.

"You call that number from any phone, and it will send a signal to me. I'll come and get you right away." Douglas opened the door of his car and settled in the driver's seat. He turned the key, and the engine rumbled to life.

"But how will I know where to meet up with you?" Chase asked.

Douglas smiled. "Don't worry about that. I'll come to you." He shifted into drive and sped off, leaving a thoughtful Chase behind him.

* * *

Chase was still lost in thought when he arrived home.

He had walked slowly, thinking about Douglas's offer the whole way, and it was nearly 5pm before he got home. Guiltily he remembered that they were supposed to train right after school that day. _Great. Another reason for Mr. Davenport to be mad at me._

In the lab, Adam and Bree were using the virtual reality simulator to train in hand-to-hand combat. Mr. Davenport stood at the control panel, typing in commands and directing the simulation. He stopped the program when he saw Chase enter the room. Adam and Bree took of their visors, and all three of them turned to glare at Chase.

"You're late," Donald pointed out, pointing to the clock on the desk. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago."

"I'm sorry," Chase replied. "It wasn't exactly my fault. Adam left without me."

Adam gave him an innocent look. "Did I? I'm _so_ sorry." He smirked at his younger brother, and Bree laughed out loud and high-fived him.

Chase clenched his fist and glared at his siblings. If they had any idea what he had been offered that afternoon, and what he had turned down for their sakes…

"All right, that's _enough,_" Donald shouted, stopping Bree's laughter and earning surprised looks from all three of the teens. "This ridiculous feud ends right now. You guys cannot function as an effective team like this. I want you all to apologize to each other _right now."_

The three siblings looked at each other uncertainly. Finally, they each mumbled an insincere-sounding "sorry." It wasn't the heartfelt apologies Donald had been hoping for, but it would do for now.

"That's better. Now Chase, get suited up. We can still get in a little more training before dinner."

* * *

Chase alternated between rubbing at his sore shoulder and picking at his food at the dinner table that night.

Though they had officially made-up, Adam and Bree hadn't gone easy on him during training. Mr. Davenport was trying to teach them some new hand-to-hand moves, and he had them practice on each other instead of against the virtual bad guys in the simulator. Adam had flipped him so many times that Chase still felt dizzy. Coupled with Douglas's words still running through his head, he found it hard to focus.

"Everything OK, Chase?" Tasha asked, bringing Chase back to the present.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine." He quickly shoved down a few more bites of food. "Can I be excused? I have a school project to work on."

"I guess so," Tasha answered, still looking concerned.

"What was that about?" she asked the others after Chase had gone up the stairs.

Bree shrugged, not looking too concerned. "Knowing Chase, he probably would rather work on a project than eat."

"Maybe he's still upset because you guys have been fighting for the past three days," Leo pointed out.

"You think so?" Adam asked, looking somewhat guilty.

"I thought you said they made up," Tasha said, looking at Donald.

"They did," he said, his voiced muffled by the mouthful of food through which he spoke.

"Barely," Bree mumbled.

"In that case, maybe _you_ should go talk to him, Bree," Tasha said.

"Me? Why me?"

"You have been pretty hard on him for a while now. Even before this silly feud started," Tasha explained.

"Adam's the one who left him after school today," she shot back.

Adam looked even more guilty. "You're right. I should go apologize." He started to get up but was stopped by Donald.

"No, Adam. You can apologize later. Bree, Tasha is right. You and your brother need to have a talk."

Bree looked around the table at her family members, but it was clear they were all in agreement. She let out a long and loud sigh. "Fine. I'll talk to him." She looked expectantly at Donald. "Tomorrow?"

"Now," he replied in a voice that left no room for argument. Bree sighed again and pushed her chair back from the table.

She took her time walking up the stairs. She knew Chase was probably in Mr. Davenport's library, as that was where he liked to do his homework. It was also the room he went to when he wanted to be alone. And right now, she suspected homework wasn't really what had made him leave the dinner table.

The truth was, she was still angry at Chase, and had been for a long time. She was a little surprised that her family had picked up on it, but as she considered the situation, it made sense. Anger and resentment had been simmering inside her and building up for a while now. Ever since…

_..since the avalanche_, her stubborn brain reminded her.

Chase had gone alone on a dangerous mission to Antarctica, during a massive storm. He was trapped by an avalanche and Adam and Bree had to come rescue him. She would never forget how pale and still he had been when they pulled him from the snow. How long it had taken for him to wake up. She still saw his blue lips and frozen white fingers in her dreams.

He had almost died.

Chase, who was usually the first one to lecture his siblings on the importance of working together as a team, had gone off by himself. Bree didn't understand how he could do something so stupid and dangerous. Mr. Davenport hadn't punished him, and who could blame him? What punishment could be worse than almost dying? It was the same reason she had never been able to bring herself to tell him how scared and angry she felt, and how she still resented what he did. But holding in her feelings just made them grow. Instead of clearing the air, she made sarcastic comments and teamed up with Adam to pick on him.

The split between the siblings had been building ever since. Despite his mistake, Chase was still the designated mission leader every time they went out. Bree knew that sometimes, their teasing got to him. They were all performing poorly during training, failing their missions, and just generally being mean to each other. Bree knew that her unresolved resentment was part of the problem.

Maybe it was time for resolution.

Bree knocked on the library door. "Chase?" She pushed it open, not waiting for him to answer.

He was sitting at Mr. Davenport's big antique desk. He looked up from the book that was spread out in front of him.

"Um, I didn't say 'come in,'" he said testily.

"You would have eventually. I figured this would save time."

Chase rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

She shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you're OK, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well, no one really bought your 'I need to go study' excuse at dinner, and I was elected to go see what's going on with you."

"I'm fine," he replied, looking back down at the book. "I'm studying. See?"

"Chase, you're the smartest person in the world. You don't _need _to study. Plus, the book is upside down."

Chase looked down, then quickly grabbed the book and flipped it over. A small piece of paper fluttered to the floor. He grabbed it and shoved it under a folder on the desk before Bree could see what was on it.

"What is going on with you?"

He stared at her intently, mouth opened, and Bree felt that he was about to tell her something important.

"Are you still mad about the fight?"

He looked down again. "Yeah….the fight. It's been stressful, the past few days, you know?"

"Yeah…yeah, I know."

They stared at each other, both wanting to say more, but both hesitating. Finally, Bree broke the awkward silence.

"Well, I'm, uh, sorry that things got so out of hand."

Chase nodded. "I guess we all took it too far."

"Yeah…." More silence. She knew there was more that needed to be said, and that they were both holding something back.

"Enjoy your studying, I guess." She turned to go.

"Bree?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Are we good?"

_Other than you sneaking off by yourself and almost dying? Other than you scaring us to death? Other than the fact that I'm still mad at you?_

She looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

"Yeah, we're good. I guess." She quickly exited the room before Chase could ask her to elaborate.

END CHAPTER


	4. The Mistake

CHAPTER FOUR- The Mistake

Chase sighed as he looked at the closed library door. He knew things weren't all right between him and Bree. They hadn't been all right for a long time now. And this development with Douglas added another layer to the drama.

He had wanted to tell her that Douglas had contacted him. It had been on the tip of his tongue. He could tell his whole family what was going on, and maybe they could work out a plan to capture him together, as a team.

Just as he was about to tell her, her remembered their conversation earlier in the day.

"_Have you been spying on us?"_

"_I heard you talking to your brother on the phone. And yeah, I may have 'accidently overheard' a few things that happened at home."_

Douglas had been watching them. Listening to them. And he could be listening right now. Not only would he tip Douglas off by talking to his family, he might put them in danger as well.

So he had blamed his exit from dinner on stress from the fight. He was pretty sure Bree hadn't bought it, and that she was still upset with him, but at least he had bought himself some time.

Chase wasn't naïve enough to think that Douglas truly wanted to help him and give him more abilities without expecting something in return. Contacting him, and going with him, would be pretty dangerous. Still, he was tired of Douglas's lingering presence in all of their lives. Chase knew they were being watched, and he knew Douglas would come back at some time. They all knew it. It added a layer of stress and tension that was wearing on all of them.

They needed to be rid of "Uncle Dougie," once and for all.

And now, he had the opportunity to get the upper hand. He would have to be quick, and he would have to be smart. But if he could get close to Douglas, Chase was certain he could capture him before he could do further harm to their family.

_I can do this. By myself. I'll take him down, and he won't be able to bother us anymore. And they will see that I'm just as strong as they are._

Chase pulled the piece of paper with Douglas's number on it out from under the folder where he had hidden it. He stared at it for a while.

_I'll have to get close to Douglas to do this._

_My family will think I betrayed them._

He pulled out his phone and set it next to the paper.

_They're already mad at me because of the mission. This will make it worse. But I'm sick of them picking on me and blaming me for everything. _

He picked up the phone.

_I won't be betraying them. I'll be saving them. I can do this. __I'll show all of them._  


Carefully, Chase punched in the numbers. Then he waited.

Nothing happened.

He waited two, three, then five minutes.

Still nothing.

Chase glared at the phone. What kind of game was Douglas playing with him? What if he had inadvertently given him the upper hand by revealing his cell phone number?

Just as he was about to give up and go back downstairs, his phone beeped, notifying him of a new text message from an unlisted number. It was brief and to the point. One word.

TOMORROW.

* * *

Keeping his secret for the rest of the evening proved to be harder than Chase thought it would be.

Not long after Bree left the library, Adam had shown up with an "apology" of his own.

"I'm sorry I left you at school," he had said. "You're just so tiny, I didn't see you standing there!"

Chase had rolled his eyes. "Really, Adam? If this is your idea of apologizing, you're really, really bad at it."

"OK, OK. I'm sorry I made you walk home. Now will you stop pouting up here like a little girl and come downstairs for some video games? I need an easy opponent."

Chase had grudgingly accepted the apology and the offer. Normally, video games would be a good distraction. But several times while they were playing, he noticed Bree still eyeing him suspiciously. He quickly let Adam win and moved down to the lab. For the rest of the evening, Chase kept himself busy by doing routine tasks on his laptop like updating the operating systems and defragging the hard drive. Neither Bree nor Adam were interested in that kind of thing, so they left him alone after that.

Several times, he almost told them what was going on. But the idea of Douglas overhearing any plans they might make stopped him. Plus, he didn't want to put Adam and Bree in danger.

_I can do this. I can do this. I just need to gain his trust long enough to get the bionic upgrades. Then I can overpower him and bring him back to Mr. Davenport. _

He changed into his pajamas and slipped into his capsule early, pretending to be asleep by the time his siblings came to bed.

That night, he dreamed of the avalanche again. He had dreamed of it many times since it happened. Of being cold, and trapped, and of no one coming to help him.

This time, he dreamed he was in his capsule. Snow swirled all around outside. Although the snow couldn't touch him, the cold still came through the capsule walls, chilling him. He tried to open the door but found it locked. He couldn't open it, and he couldn't break through the walls, either.

Outside, he could see his brother and sister, looking for him. He tried to call out to them, but they couldn't hear him over the wind. Just as they were almost close enough to touch the capsule, Douglas appeared, staring at them and grinning evilly.

In his dream, Chase heard Bree scream. He jerked awake, heart pounding and palms sweaty.

He looked at his siblings, but they were still asleep. Their alarm wouldn't go off for another hour, but he went ahead and got up anyway.

The rest of the day was almost normal. They all went to school and went to their classes as usual. But Chase found it hard to concentrate, as he was constantly wondering how Douglas would contact him. What if he came busting through the front door with a tank or something?

In the end, the contact was quiet and simple. Just after lunch, as he was heading to economics class, his phone beeped, signaling a new text message.

OUTSIDE

Chase looked around. The halls were crowded with students making their way to class. No one was really paying attention to him. Chase hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder, put his head down, and casually walked out the front door.

The same car Douglas had been in yesterday was parked in the front of the lot, waiting for him. Chase took a deep breath, then strolled over and opened the door.

Douglas grinned at him. "Glad you could make it. Let's go for a ride."

Chase did not smile back.

* * *

Leo entered his geometry class with a frown. Why did his least favorite class have to come right after lunch? The boring topic combined with his full belly made staying awake nearly impossible.

He set his books down on his usual desk with a sigh. Why couldn't school just end after lunch? He could go home, take a nap, goof off for a while…anything but sit through a lecture on right angles and isosceles triangles.

Leo looked wistfully out the window.

He was just in time to see his brother climb into a strange car, which pulled away as soon as he shut the door.

Leo blinked a few times, but the vision still held. He felt his stomach jump nervously. _Did that just happen?_ _Did Chase really just leave school with a stranger?_

Class had not technically started yet. Leo jumped up and dashed out into the hall before Mr. Bryant could start his lesson.

He was pulling out his cell phone to call home when he heard the familiar screech of Principal Perry shouting his name. "DOOLEY! Where do you think you're going?"

Leo skidded to a stop and began to stutter. "Well, that is, um…I really need to make a call. Like, now."

Principal Perry laughed as if this was the funniest joke she had ever heard. "Being late for class AND using a cell phone during school hours? Dooley, you crack me up sometimes. Come on, hand it over."

"But it's an emergency. For real!"

"Yeah, sure. That's what they all say. Now, give me the phone. If you're lucky, I'll give it back after your detention today."

"Detention?!" Leo glanced towards the door desperately. "But I really need to get home today!"

Principal Perry snatched the phone from his hand. "No, you really need to get to class before you get detention for the rest of the week! Now, shoo!"

Leo sighed in exasperation and trudged back to class in defeat. He knew he wouldn't hear a word Mr. Bryant was saying, or anything that was said in any of his other classes, either.

Chase was in trouble.

* * *

Their destination was not what Chase had been expecting.

The drive was fairly short. After about forty-five minutes, Douglas pulled up in front of a non-descript house out in the empty desert surrounding the city. The house looked completely normal, although a bit out of place in the barren landscape.

Chase squinted as he stepped out of the car into the bright sunlight and surveyed the house. "This is it?"

"Well, what did you expect? A big flashing "secret lair" sign?"

Chase rolled his eyes. He honestly hadn't known what to expect, but this cozy cottage out in the desert certainly wasn't it. "Your old lab got destroyed. I figured you were on the run."

"You think I don't have more than one lab? Always have a back-up plan, Chase. Or two or three. I have several hideouts in various locations."

It was unnerving to think that Douglas had been so close by all this time. How many times had he watched them come and go from school? How many times had he parked near their house to spy on them?

Chase hung back as Douglas unlocked the front door of the house. Douglas turned back towards him after he pushed the door open. "You coming?"

"Um, yeah. I guess."

"Relax, Chase," Douglas said with a smile as he ushered him into the house. "You're free to leave any time you want. Just say the word and I'll take you back home. But I bet you want to see my lab first. It's almost as nice as Donnie's."

Chase followed him through the house, which was furnished with simple, functional furniture and decorated in neutral colors. It looked like a normal home, except that it was almost too perfect. Nothing seemed out of place, and there were no signs that anyone actually lived there.

At the far end of the kitchen, Douglas opened another door and lead Chase down a staircase into a basement. At the bottom of the stairs, Chase stopped and stared, impressed. The basement was one big room, furnished with computers, tools, radars, tv screens, and instrument panels. Chase recognized some of the same equipment that Mr. Davenport had in his own lab. Other pieces were foreign to him. At the back of the room stood a capsule just like Marcus's. Chase glanced around nervously, half expecting another android teenager to appear to finish him off.

"Well? What do you think?" Douglas asked.

"Not bad," Chase admitted. He walked over to the main control panel and ran his finger along the side of it. "And you can upgrade my chip and give me new abilities with this stuff?"

"That's the plan," Douglas said. "First, I need to do a scan of your bionic systems. See what changes Donald has made over the years." He joined Chase at the instrument panel. "You just need to stand over there and let the scanner check you out. It won't take long."

Chase looked at Douglas nervously.

"I'll show you exactly what program I'm running. See?" Douglas motioned to the monitor above the control panel. "Just a simple scan. Nothing more."

Chase examined the read-out. It looked just like the scans Mr. Davenport ran periodically on him and his siblings. "OK. Where do I stand?"

"Right there." Douglas pointed to a spot three feet in front of the panel. Chase complied, and Douglas entered a sequence on the instrument panel. A metal arm with a light on the end of it came out of the side of the panel and began moving up and down, scanning him with a beam of red light.

"Hmmm…" Douglas mumbled. "Donald has made some changes. And I see you unlocked some of your hidden abilities." He looked up at Chase and grinned. "How do you like the molecular kinesis?"

Chase smiled in spite of himself. "It is pretty fun."

"Comes in handy, doesn't it? That one was all my idea. Donnie didn't even think it was possible!" The monitor beeped, signaling the end of the scan.

"So," Chase asked, "are we starting with super strength or super speed?"

"Why not both?" Douglas replied. "Your chip already has room for those capabilities. I just need to upgrade it." He motioned for Chase to come around to his side of the instrument panel and pointed to a USB drive. "Just plug yourself in there and the program will download into your system. Should only take about fifteen minutes or so."

Chase obediently slid the USB in his finger into the drive. _Fifteen minutes, and Adam will never be able to toss me across the room again. Fifteen minutes, and I'll be faster than Bree. They will have to respect me as mission leader after that._

Fifteen minutes felt like a long time. Douglas watched the progress on the monitor and made occasional adjustments on the keypad. Finally the machine chirped out a beep, indicating the upgrade was complete.

Chase pulled his finger out of the drive. He didn't feel any different. He looked up at Douglas, who was watching him closely.

"Aren't you going to try it out?" He pointed to a barrel sitting in the corner. "That barrel weighs 200 pounds. Try to pick it up."

Chase bent his knees, wrapped his arms around the barrel, and lifted with his legs, just like he had always seen Adam do. The barrel went flying up, over his head and across the room, landing just in front of the instrument panel.

Douglas laughed after the barrel came to rest against the console. "Takes a little getting used to, doesn't it?"

Chase was stunned. Not only had he lifted 200 pounds, he had lifted it easily! "I thought it would be harder than that. No wonder Adam throws me across the room so often. That was fun!"

"And now, you can get back at him."

"That's not why I'm doing this," Chase said quickly. "I just…want to be a better mission leader."

Douglas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right." He pressed a few more buttons on the instrument panel, which chirped again in response. "Speaking of Adam, don't you think it's time you got back home? School is out. They're probably wondering where you are." He motioned to the backpack that Chase had left sitting by the stairs. "Don't forget your books."

Chase tensed. This was the crucial part of his plan. He had to bring Douglas back home with him before his uncle could do anything to hurt him. Of course, with this new super strength, that shouldn't be a problem.

Deliberately, Chase crossed the room towards where his uncle was standing. "I thought maybe you would like to come with me."

Douglas smiled. "I don't think that's going to happen." He keyed in another sequence, and suddenly Chase's body stopped in mid-stride. Every muscle, every nerve, every part of his body froze, as if it no longer knew how to respond. Or as if it were waiting for instructions from someone or something else.

Chase tried to speak, but even his mouth seemed to be frozen. He could only stare at Douglas, who was staring back at him with that same creepy, unnerving smile.

Douglas hit a key, and Chase's body came back to life. He stumbled forward and caught himself before falling down completely. "What….what was that?"

"Just trying out my Triton ap."

Chase stared in horror at his uncle.

"But…you said…"

"That I destroyed it? Do you really think I wouldn't keep a back-up copy? I just needed to get one of you here, so I could install it on your system. I know what you were thinking, Chase. You would get your bionic upgrades and then overpower me. Well, that's not happening. I'm your creator, and the creator always has to stay one step ahead of the creation."

His adrenaline was rising, making his bionic abilities kick in to high gear. Chase turned to run, knowing that it was time to abort the plan and super-speed back home. But before he could take a step, his body froze again. Douglas was typing more, inputting more commands.

And Chase's body was responding to them.

Douglas finished his typing and walked with slow, deliberate strides over to where Chase was frozen. "You're going to speed yourself back home and install this program on Adam and Bree's chips. Then, all three of you will come back here. Forget Donald, forget your life in Mission Creek, forget being a hero. You are mine again, and from now on, you work for me."

Chase could not move. Could not speak. Could not protest.

He could only stand there, frozen, realizing that he had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

END CHAPTER


	5. The Attack

**Author's note: Please note that I wrote this before "Sink or Swim" aired, so my description of the Triton App isn't quite like what we saw there. **

**I want to say that I appreciate all reviews, even the ones that just say "please update soon!" But I have been truly blown away by how many kind, intelligent, and thoughtful reviews I have received. You guys are the best. :)**

**To my guest reviewer Razara, thank you for leaving such kind reviews, even though the story didn't go quite the way you had hoped. **

**Several readers have expressed a little disappointment that Chase didn't fully go over to Douglas's side. When I first started this fic, that was actually my intention. But ultimately, I felt it would have been too out of character for Chase. I think he gets over-confident in his abilities sometimes and gets into situations he can't really handle. But he's not stupid. If it weren't for the events of "Bionic Showdown," things might have gone differently. But Chase saw what Douglas was then. I just couldn't have him ignore the fact that Douglas kidnapped them and tried to kill them and all that. **

**Whew! That was a long note. Let's get to the next chapter now. I may be out for a few days, as I need to write the ending to this thing and work on a tag I started last week. So please, no more death threats if I don't update? Pretty please? :)**

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE- The Attack

Super-speeding across the Southern California desert for the first time should have been an exhilarating experience for Chase. Instead, it was like hurtling towards his doom at five hundred miles per hour with no way to put on the brakes. What had been a forty-five minute drive took less than five with his new ability. Almost before he knew it, Chase was standing outside the door to the Davenport mansion.

It was eerie and terrifying, watching his own body do things that he was not telling it to do. Douglas's Triton ap did not have quite the effect that he thought it would when he designed it. Although the ap easily took over Chase's body, it could not control his entire mind. There was a small part of him that knew everything that was going on and was desperate, but unable, to stop it. "Chase," and all of the things that made him who he was, still existed. But "Chase" had been pushed to the back of his own mind. He was merely an observer, watching through his own eyes as he walked inside and greeted his siblings.

"Hey, guys. Ready to train?"

It was remarkable, how _normal_ his voice sounded. Even though he felt like a robot, his voice and actions and mannerisms were all so smooth, so exactly like he normally acted.

"Where have you been?" Bree asked. "We couldn't find you after school."

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "I wasn't going to leave you this time, but Bree made me."

"I got a ride from a friend."

"You weren't in your last class," Bree continued.

"Special project for the science fair." _Where is this coming from?_ Not only could Douglas control his actions, he could make him lie, too.

Bree still looked suspicious, so Chase quickly changed the subject. "Can we get down to the lab? Mr. Davenport asked me to run a virus scan before we start training."

The lie, spoken from his own mouth without his consent, worked like a charm. Bree walked to the elevator without any further argument. And Adam followed after shoving the last bit of a peanut butter sandwich in his mouth and swishing it down with a large swallow of milk.

And "Chase" followed them.

_Douglas must have been watching us for a long time_. Somehow he had known that Mr. Davenport often asked Chase to run virus scans or perform system updates on his siblings. It was a request that Adam and Bree would not question. They immediately entered their capsules and waited as he started punching commands into the instrument panel.

The USB drive appeared at the end of his finger. Chase plugged himself into the panel, and the Triton program uploaded itself into Mr. Davenport's system.

From deep inside himself, Chase watched as his fingers typed in the command to send the Triton program into Adam and Bree's chips. He tried focusing all his remaining energy and everything that was left of himself on making his body stop. And for a second, his fingers hesitated. His hand hovered over the control panel, uncertain.

At that same moment, the lab doors slid open and Mr. Davenport walked in. "Hey, guys," he said cheerfully.

The momentary interruption broke his concentration, giving total control back to Douglas. Chase saw his finger press "enter." The Triton program began uploading into Adam and Bree.

"What are you doing, Chase?" Donald asked.

"Virus scan," he replied, not looking up.

"Really?" Donald joined him at the instrument panel. He frowned as he looked at the display. "That doesn't look like a virus scan."

"It is." The upload was 20% complete.

"Chase, I appreciate your initiative, but I don't like you uploading programs that I haven't looked at yet. Shut it down, OK?"

"No." 30% complete.

Donald looked surprised. "What?"

"Just give it a few more minutes. I already told you, it's a virus scan," Chase replied tensely.

"Chase, shut it down. Now."

"NO!" Chase shouted, startling Donald and causing his siblings to look up from inside their capsules in surprise.

45% complete.

Donald reached over and tried to shut the upload down himself. Chase angrily shoved him away from the panel.

"Chase, what has gotten into you?" Donald approached him again, more cautiously this time. He reached for the panel.

With an angry yell, Chase shoved Donald backwards again. This time, his super-strength kicked in. Donald went flying across the room and crashed into the lab doors.

From inside his mind, the real Chase screamed silently. _Mr. Davenport!_

He felt his body calmly turn back to the upload. 65% complete. Just another minute or two…

Adam and Bree were both pounding at their capsule doors, trying to get out. But the doors locked automatically whenever a program was running. Adam finally punched the door, shattering it and sending a spray of glass pieces to the floor.

Adam grabbed his brother around the waist, from the side, and dragged him away from the panel. Chase responded angrily by swinging around, taking Adam with him. The two fell to the floor and struggled until Chase was able to break free. Adam was still on the ground, staring up at his younger brother in confusion. Chase grabbed Adam by the arm and pulled him to his feet, then threw him across the room.

During their scuffle, Donald had managed to get to his feet and stumble to the control panel. Chase turned around just in time to see him hit the button that would abort the upload.

"Program is 90% complete," the computer chirped. "Are you sure you want to abort?"

Donald hit the button again.

"Upload aborted."

"No!" Chase yelled again. "You ruined it! You ruin everything!"

Adam had gotten to his feet, and Mr. Davenport was staring at Chase. Chase tried again to resist the force that was controlling him from afar, and for just a second, he felt his body hesitate. But the Triton program was too much. He felt his feet moving beneath him. He super-speeded out the door and back to Douglas's lair.

Bree finally managed to get her capsule door open. She joined her shocked brother and father on the floor. "Did you see that? Did he just…and then he…" She turned and raced out of the lab and outside to see if she could find him. Bree looked all around the house and off into the distance in every direction, but Chase was already gone. She rejoined her family in the lab.

"Mr. Davenport, how was Chase able to run that fast?"

"And how was he able to throw me across the room?" Adam added.

"I don't know, guys. But I have a pretty good guess." Donald hit a few buttons on the instrument panel, trying to bring up the program Chase had been trying to upload.

The lab doors burst open and everyone looked up, expecting to see Chase again. Instead, Leo burst in to the room, out of breath.

"Big D! Look, I know maybe I shouldn't tell you this and I don't want to go behind his back or anything, but I think something may be going on with Chase."

Bree glared at him. "Ya think? Great timing, Leo. Maybe you could have told us that five minutes ago?"

"Why? What happened?" Leo looked around, finally noticing the broken capsule door.

Donald looked up from the panel. "What made you think something was going on with Chase, Leo?"

"Well, he seemed really distracted today at school. And then, after lunch, I saw him get into a car with someone and leave."

Donald's eyes widened. "And you thought it would be a good idea to wait until NOW to tell me?!"

"I tried to call! But Principal Perry saw me using my phone and took it away. Then she gave me detention for having a phone in school. I just got home!"

Donald shook his head. He had warned his kids about not getting in cars with strangers since before they were old enough to know what cars and strangers were.

"OK, what kind of car was it?"

"I don't know," Leo replied. "Just a basic, dark-colored four-door. I only saw the side of it."

"Could you see the driver?"

Leo thought for a moment. He tried to visualize those few seconds of time. He had been so focused on Chase that he didn't take in much else.

"No, Big D. It was too far away."

"Could it have been Douglas?" Donald asked.

All three of the teens looked at him in surprise.

"Douglas? What makes you say that?" Bree asked.

"Well, I sure didn't give Chase those abilities," Donald replied. "And this program he was trying to upload; I think it was Douglas's Triton Ap. I recognize some of the code."

Leo looked confused, Adam looked sad, and Bree looked angry. "So he's working for Douglas now," she said angrily.

"Maybe not," Adam said quickly. "Maybe Douglas forced him to do it somehow."

"Leo, did it look like Chase got in the car willingly, or was he forced in?" Donald asked.

"He opened the door, set his backpack in the floor, and got in," Leo replied.

"His backpack…" Bree mumbled. She looked over to the corner of the room where Chase always put his books down when he came home from school. Sure enough, the backpack was there.

"Maybe there is something in here that will tell us what he was up to," she explained. She hurriedly dug through the contents. Books, papers, folders, pencils. When she lifted out one of the books, a small slip of paper fluttered to the floor. She grabbed it and held it up.

"It's a phone number!"

The others gathered around behind her to look at it.

"That's Douglas's handwriting," Donald said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Bree asked.

"We grew up together, and we worked together for years. I'm sure."

Adam took the backpack and reached into the side pocket where Chase always kept his phone. Sure enough, it was still there. He unlocked it and brought up the recent call list.

"He called that number yesterday."

"So he did contact Douglas himself. Which means he betrayed us," Bree said coolly.

The others looked at her in surprise. "How can you say that?" Adam asked sadly.

"What other explanation could there be, Adam?"

"There could be lots of explanations, Bree!"

"Like what?"

"Like, um…" Adam scrunched up his face, trying to think of something that made sense and would excuse Chase's actions.

"Like maybe he was upset about the fight you all had," Leo interjected. "Maybe he was feeling left out and unappreciated because you two were always trying to show him up."

"How would you know, Leo?" Bree asked, her voice rising in anger.

"Oh gee, I don't know. Maybe he talked to me because his other siblings wouldn't speak to him for three days," Leo said, his tone and pitch matching Bree's.

"That still isn't a reason for him to betray us!"

"GUYS!" Donald shouted, silencing the teens. "It DOESN'T MATTER why he did it. We can work all that out later. Right now, we need to focus on finding him before…before Douglas…" His voice trailed off, not wanting to verbalize what he was thinking.

Three sets of eyes looked at him nervously.

"Before Douglas what?" Adam asked timidly.

Donald sighed. "Before Douglas makes him do something terrible."

* * *

Douglas used his commands to guide Chase back to the lab and directly into a capsule he had set up in advance. Once Chase was locked inside, Douglas disengaged the Triton ap. Chase felt himself return to the forefront of his own mind, and control of his body was returned to him.

From outside the capsule, Douglas glared at him. "You failed."

Though he was still recovering and processing what had just happened, Chase did his best to glare back at his uncle. "Don't you mean 'you' failed? You were the one doing that. Not me!"

"Back there, in Donald's lab, your body didn't respond as quickly as it should have. You were resisting me."

Chase narrowed his eyes. "I will NEVER stop resisting you, no matter WHAT you do to me."

"We'll see about that. I'm going to have to re-work the Triton ap so that it takes total control of your entire mind and body. It's a complicated program, which means I have a lot of work to do. In the meantime…" He stood directly in front of the capsule and leaned in until he was eye to eye with Chase, separated only by the see-through wall.

"You're going to be in there for a while."

END CHAPTER


	6. The Search

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Real life got kind of crazy last week. The good news is that I think I finally know how to wrap this story up, and it is almost finished. So, hopefully, more frequent updates. :)**

CHAPTER SIX- The Search

Chase had never found his capsule in the Davenport lab to be too small or confining. On the contrary, it felt cozy and safe. Like home. Unfortunately, he could not say the same for the capsule in which he was currently locked.

This capsule looked just like Marcus's had looked. It was wider at the base than the one he occupied at home. But this capsule also tapered to a point at the top, making it feel smaller. And the metal bars that criss-crossed the sides made it feel like a cage.

Chase had lost track of time in the windowless basement. He estimated that he had been in the capsule for at least five hours now, ever since the failed attempt to take over Adam and Bree. Douglas had spent the entire time hunched over his computer, working. The two hadn't bothered to speak to each other. Chase was glad for that. However, it was about to change, as he had a problem that could no longer be ignored.

He stretched his stiff legs and rose slowly to his feet.

"Hey," he said, but Douglas ignored him. Chase tapped on the glass and tried again, louder.

"Hey!"

Finally, Douglas looked up.

"I, uh…need to go to the bathroom."

Douglas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm not falling for that."

"It's true!" Chase said. "I've been in here for hours.

Douglas studied him for a moment, then sighed. "Fine."

He opened the cage and Chase stepped out. He didn't try to run away at this point. He really did need to go, and didn't want to lose that chance.

Douglas led him to a door at the back of the basement. It opened into a tiny, basic bathroom. Just a sink, a toilet, and a bare light bulb. After he finished, Chase took his time getting a long drink of water from the sink.

He heard Douglas knocking on the door. "Hurry up in there!"

"I'm ready," Chase replied. He readied himself, knowing he would only have a second or two to dash past Douglas.

The door opened, and Chase ran out. Douglas made no move to stop him. His super-speed kicked in, and Chase was halfway across the room before a blinding pain seized him. It was like being electrocuted, only worse. Painful heat radiated from his head down to his toes and everywhere in-between.

Chase fell to the floor in a useless heap. He would have screamed in agony, but even his lungs seemed to be seized by the intense heat. He couldn't even draw in a breath. After a few seconds that felt much longer, the pain finally subsided.

Chase lay on the floor, shaking, not bothering to look up. He saw Douglas's feet appear in front of his face. His uncle knelt down in front of him, right in his line of vision.

"Pretty cool, huh? Another upgrade I added to your chip. At the touch of a button, I can contract every muscle in your body and make it feel like you're on fire." He waved a remote in front of Chase's face. "I can also make it feel cold instead of hot. Want to see?"

"No!" Chase gasped. "Don't…don't do that again…ever."

"Behave yourself, and I won't have to." Douglas rose back to a standing position. "Now get back in your capsule."

Chase had no choice but to carefully get to his feet and stumble the few feet back to the capsule. He didn't look up as the door closed behind him with a definite, final "click."

* * *

"Anything?" Bree asked.

"No, Bree," Donald sighed. "Not since the last time you asked me."

They were in the lab, trying to track Chase's location using the GPS locator in his bionic chip. But it wasn't showing up anywhere. Donald had used a variety of scanning and locating devices that should have been able to pick up the signal from anywhere on earth, but it simply wasn't showing up. It was as if Chase didn't exist.

"Well, why won't it show up? I thought you could track us from anywhere," she said, exasperated.

"Douglas must be blocking the GPS signal somehow. Or else he removed the GPS locator all together," Donald explained patiently.

Bree glanced nervously at Adam. "Would the GPS stop transmitting if Chase were…dead?"

"Bree!" Adam said, shocked.

She looked directly at Donald. "Would it?" she repeated, forcefully.

Donald looked flustered. "Yes…but it's very unlikely that Donald would kill him. He sees all of you as his creations, and he is desperate to get you back so he can use you to…well, God knows what he has planned. But he would never destroy his creations."

Adam and Bree still didn't look convinced.

"Look, guys, I'll keep searching, for Chase and for Douglas. Maybe I can figure out where my brother has been hiding out all this time." He glanced at his watch. "It's almost midnight, and it's been a long day. Why don't you two get some sleep?"

Both shook their heads. "No way," Adam said. "We'll help you keep looking."

"There's really nothing else you can do right now, guys. And you're going to need your rest. I'll come and get you right away if I find anything. I promise."

Reluctantly, Adam and Bree moved towards their capsules. Bree hesitated as she glanced sadly at Chase's empty capsule. Adam gently rested his hand on her shoulder. They both entered their capsules and shut the door, because there was nothing else they could do.

* * *

Somewhere during the night, Chase had dozed off in the unfamiliar, cramped space. He awoke the next morning to the sight of Douglas standing next to the capsule, peering down at him.

He jerked fully awake with a start, remembering the terrible events of the day before. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, finally focusing on Douglas. His stomach turned nervously as he remembered the Triton app. _What if he's finished re-programming it? _

"Good morning," Douglas said cheerfully. "I thought you might need another bathroom break."

Chase stretched and stood up as Douglas unlocked the capsule door. He walked to and from the bathroom without trying to escape. The remote was clutched tightly in Douglas's hand. Chase could still remember the painful shock from the day before.

As Douglas was unlocking the door again, Chase's stomach growled loudly. He hadn't eaten since lunchtime the day before.

"Can I get something to eat?"

Douglas sighed. "I guess you would need some food. Follow me." He led the teen back upstairs to the house's kitchen. The cabinets didn't hold much food, and the items that were there were all processed and canned products, made to last a long time.

Douglas produced a box of cereal and two bowls from one of the cabinets. He poured one for each of them, then topped them off with milk from the fridge. He handed Chase a full bowl and a spoon, and after a moment's hesitation, Chase began to eat.

"I almost forgot that you need to eat. I guess I got too used to Marcus," Douglas explained after a few bites of the cereal. Because of his intense hunger, Chase was wolfing down his share and was almost finished, but he paused at the mention of the android.

"Marcus ate. I ate lunch with him lots of times."

"Marcus ate because he wanted to. Not because he had to," Douglas explained. "All he really had to do was recharge at night and he was good to go."

Chase finished off the last of his cereal and looked back up at his creator. "Did Marcus know he was an android?"

"Of course he knew!" said Douglas. "He thought it was the greatest thing ever. He embraced who he was, unlike you."

"You have no idea who I am," Chase said tensely.

"I know who I created you to be. And I know Donald has distracted you from your real purpose with ridiculous things like 'school' and 'socialization' and 'missions.'"

"My real purpose? How would you know what my purpose is?!"

"Because I created you! I'm the one who gave you all of your abilities!"

"And now you want me to use them to hurt people," Chase growled.

Douglas sighed. "Despite what Donald has told you, life isn't always so black and white, Chase. Sometimes bad people need to be stopped, by whatever means necessary."

"And other times, bad people pay a lot of money for your services," Chase retorted. "That's what you're really after, isn't it?"

Douglas smiled. "There's nothing wrong with making money." He swallowed the last bite of his cereal and set the bowls in the sink.

Chase glanced towards the front door. It was so close…

But Douglas saw where he was looking and pulled the remote out of his pocket. "Don't even think about it." He moved his finger towards the button. Chase flinched involuntarily, bracing himself for the shock that never came.

Douglas laughed. "You do learn quickly, that's for sure." He motioned towards the doorway that led to the basement. "Now get back downstairs."

* * *

"Anything?" Tasha asked as she joined her husband in his lab the next morning. She handed him a steaming mug of coffee, which he accepted gratefully.

"No," he sighed. "I've been scanning and searching all night. I also sent surveillance drones to some of the places Douglas used to hang out, but there's nothing there. I'm trying to get a hold of some of his old contacts, but it's been so long, I don't know where any of them are now. And I doubt they would want to talk to me, anyway. Douglas and I don't exactly run in the same circles anymore."

Tasha rubbed his shoulders as he took a sip of the hot coffee. She knew he must be tired; he had not come to bed at all last night. "Where are Adam and Bree?" she asked, noting the empty capsules.

"They got up early to go search. They went to Douglas's old house first. The one that he and Marcus lived in. But it's been completely destroyed and removed. It's like there was never a house there in the first place. So now they're just wandering around town searching, I think."

"Do you really think that's safe, with Douglas out there and possibly looking for them?" Tasha asked worriedly.

"No, I don't think it's safe. But I knew I wouldn't be able to stop them. They want to be doing something, not waiting here. It was all I could do to get them to sleep for a few hours last night."

"Donald, maybe…maybe you should call the police."

Donald let out a clipped, hollow laugh. "And tell them what?"

"That your son is missing, and your criminal of a brother took him."

"You know I can't do that, Tasha," Donald said, his voice rising a bit. "They'll start asking questions, and our whole secret will be found out. Is that what you want?"

"Of course not," she said, trying to stay calm. "I'm just saying that maybe this is more than you and the kids can handle on your own."

Donald looked determined. "We can handle it. We _have _to handle it. And I don't think Douglas is through with us, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Tasha asked.

"I mean, I think he is once again working out some grand scheme for revenge. He has Chase, and I don't think he will leave it at that. He wants all three of them. He always has. Even if we can't find him, I know that, eventually, he will find us. I don't know what might happen when he does come back. And I'm afraid that it might be a long time before he does. What if he goes underground again for months? Or years? I don't think the kids could handle losing their brother for that long."

Tasha looked at him sympathetically. "I don't think they're the only ones."

"And I don't know what he might do to Chase in the meantime." He looked at his wife sadly. "If this goes on for a long time, Chase might be unrecognizable if and when we get him back."

Tasha looked surprised, then horrified at the thought. Unsure of what to say, she instead pulled her husband into a hug, which he gratefully returned.

"We have to find Douglas first," he said softly into her ear. "And fast."

"So what are you going to do?" she asked as she pulled away.

Donald looked at her at sighed. "I have no idea."

END CHAPTER


	7. The Last Resort

CHAPTER SEVEN- The Last Resort

Finding nothing but a vacant lot where Douglas's house had once stood, Adam and Bree had resorted to wandering around town, looking for Chase on foot. Both of them knew it would probably be fruitless, but it was better than sitting in the lab, waiting for the GPS locator to go off.

They walked in silence most of the time, other than to say things like "right or left?" or "did we check this street yet?" Although her mouth was quiet, Bree's mind was running on overdrive. She kept thinking of the fight they had all had, and of the last conversation she had with Chase. She could have made things right between them, but she hadn't. And now she may never get that chance.

"Adam?" she finally said when she could stand it no longer. "Do you think that…that Chase left because of us?"

"What do you mean?" he responded as he peered into the window of an abandoned building

"I mean, first Chase took off by himself to go to Antarctica after we gave him a hard time. 'Hustle and muscle' and all that. And then, last weekend we had that huge fight, and then he took off with Douglas. We both know it's not like Chase to go off by himself. Do you think we drove him away? That we made him go over to Douglas's side?"

Adam turned away from the window and thought for a moment. "I think that, if Chase did go with Douglas willingly, he had a good reason for it. Maybe he thought he could take him down. Or maybe he was trying to protect us or Mr. Davenport."

Bree felt ashamed. Of course Adam would think the best of Chase. He was loyal, like a dog. Almost to a fault.

"Anyway," Adam continued, "I don't think Chase knows what he's doing right now. I think Douglas is controlling him. When he attacked us in the lab, he looked different. His eyes."

"What about his eyes?" Bree asked. She had been locked in her capsule, too far away to see Chase's face up close.

"When he looked at me, it was like he didn't recognize me. Like I was a stranger, and a threat. I know it sounds weird, but it was like Chase wasn't really there."

Bree shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Being used and controlled by someone like Douglas was one of her worst fears. And now it was happening to Chase.

"Do you think we will get him back?" she asked as they began to walk again.

"Yeah, I do. I know we'll get him back," he replied. For once, Adam's simple way of viewing things was a comfort rather than a frustration.

Bree stopped walking and gently touched his arm. "When we do, do you think he'll be the same person he was before?"

Adam stared back, surprised by the question. Bree realized that he had not considered that possibility yet. _And now he's thinking about it, because of me. Will I ever learn to keep my mouth shut and stop being selfish?_

Finally, noticing the stricken look on her face, Adam pulled his sister into a hug. "Chase is still in there, Bree. I don't believe that Douglas can take away who we are, even if he can control our bodies."

She leaned against him, grateful for the support, until the chirp of her cell phone disrupted the silence. She pulled it out and read the screen.

"Mr. Davenport wants us to come back to the lab," she explained to Adam.

"Did he find Chase?"

"It doesn't say. Let's go find out." Adam hopped onto her back and they took off for home at top speed.

* * *

Chase leaned his head back against the capsule wall and sighed in frustration. He had been trapped in the capsule for the whole day, except for a few brief minutes when Douglas let him out to use the bathroom and get another drink of water. He had kept the remote clutched in his hand the whole time, and Chase had not risked trying to escape again.

Douglas had spent the entire day bent over his computer desk, running programs and making adjustments to their codes. He rarely looked up, and he never stopped to take a break or get anything to eat. Chase had seen this same intensity in Donald whenever he was wrapped up in building a new invention. Sometimes Tasha had to literally drag him out of the lab and up to the dinner table.

Although he was glad that Douglas was not trying to hurt him, having his creator wrapped up in his work left Chase alone and bored. His body ached from sitting on the hard floor. His stomach had been growling for the past hour, the bowl of cereal from earlier long since digested.

Being locked up had also left him with a lot of time to think. It was blindingly obvious now that coming here alone had been a really bad idea. He should have learned his lesson after the avalanche, but he hadn't. He had rationalized his actions this time by telling himself it was to help Adam and Bree. But deep down, he knew that he wanted to prove something to them, and maybe to himself. To prove he was the best, and that he wasn't a little kid who needed his big brother and sister to help him. And now, he was in the exact position that he had been trying to avoid.

Even worse, Douglas was planning to control him. He would use Chase to hurt people, to rob people, to start wars, to commit assassinations…the possibilities were endless, and terrifying. He could not and _would not_ let himself be someone's puppet. He would have to come up with a way to escape, and soon. And if he couldn't escape, he would have to…

"kill myself," he whispered, too quietly for Douglas to hear. "I'll have to kill myself."

The thought of ending himself had been circling in the back of his brain for hours now. Actually voicing it out loud was terrifying. But it also gave him a renewed sense of control. There _was_ a way out, though it was not the way he had hoped.

Chase Davenport was not just a person, he was a weapon. And dangerous weapons that fall into the wrong hands have to be destroyed. He didn't want to die, not at 15 years old, with so much left to do in life. But he would not let Douglas control him and force him to do things he wouldn't be able to live with later.

"I've done it!" Douglas called out suddenly, rousing Chase from his thoughts. "I've modified the Triton program. It should be much more effective now. This is amazing. I'M amazing!" He practically sprinted over to the capsule and unlocked the door. "Come on, come on, let's try it out!"

Chase obediently stepped out of the capsule. He glanced subtly at Douglas's hand. In his haste, he had not pulled the remote out of his pocket.

Immediately Chase grabbed his uncle and threw him across the room. Douglas landed against the wall, surprised but unhurt. His hand went into his jacket pocket to grab the remote.

Chase super-speeded to his side just as the remote came into view. He kicked Douglas's hand, and the remote went flying and landed on the floor a few feet away. Douglas pushed himself up and made a mad dive for it, but Chase got there first. He snatched up the remote in his hand and squeezed, shattering it into dozens of tiny pieces.

"No!" Douglas shrieked, enraged. He made a desperate grab for Chase's leg, but Chase easily stepped away from it. He kicked again, and Douglas flew back into the wall, stunned this time.

Chase saw the stairs leading up and the door leading to freedom. He was off and running up the stairs and outside in a split-second.

A small part of him thought maybe he should have restrained Douglas before taking off, but the bigger part of him just wanted to be home. He could be back in the lab in a few minutes, where Mr. Davenport could fix him. Mr. Davenport could remove the Triton app, and make everything normal again. _Just a little further and this will all be over._

But something was wrong. Chase felt himself slowing down. He was still trying to run, but his body wasn't responding. He came to a complete stop. He was alone, in the middle of the desert. His body turned around and began running back the way he just came from.

_No!_ He tried to scream, tried to make himself stop. But he could do nothing

Douglas had control again.

In no time at all, he was back in the basement lab, standing next to the cyber desk with a grinning Douglas behind it. "You forgot the app was still in there, didn't you?" he said. "I've still got control. You're still mine. And once I install these upgrades, you will never be able to resist me again."

* * *

"Did you find Chase?" Bree exclaimed breathlessly as soon as she and Adam rushed into the lab. Leo was also there, trying to help though there really wasn't much he could do.

"No," Donald said, shaking his head.

"Then why did you call us back?" Adam asked.

"Because I don't want you two out there wandering around when we don't know what Douglas is up to. It's not safe."

"Are you kidding?" Bree asked. "If Douglas comes after us, he can lead us to Chase!"

"And we can take care of ourselves," Adam added. Both he and Bree glared at Donald, who glared back."

"That's probably what Chase thought, too," he retorted. "It's getting late in the day, and I want you both here before it gets dark. Besides, I have a feeling Douglas will try to contact us at some point, and I want us to-" an insistent beeping sound came from his desk, interrupting him.

-"be ready," Donald finished his sentence as he checked the source of the alarm.

"What is it?" Leo asked.

Donald looked up. "It's the GPS signal from Chase's chip. It's working again."

Adam and Bree looked at each other, excited. "Let's go get him! What are his coordinates?" Bree asked Donald.

Donald looked seriously at them. "He's about forty miles away, in a remote location in the desert. I'll send the coordinates to your chips. But guys, you need to be aware that this is most likely a trap. Douglas probably re-activated the GPS knowing that we would come and try to save him."

"It's OK, Mr. Davenport," Adam said. "We'll get him back. We can handle Douglas."

"DON'T underestimate him," Donald said sternly. "I'm sure he wants to trap you two, too. Don't give him the chance. Get Chase and get out, do you understand?"

They both nodded.

"All right." He pressed a button on the desk. "I've sent the coordinates to your chips. Go on ahead. I'll follow in the super-speedster and be there soon." Adam hopped on Bree's back and the two of them were off.

Donald turned to his step-son. "Leo, I-"

"-want me to stay here and monitor the situation remotely until you get back. I know the drill, Big D."

Donald smiled. "Actually, I have a job for you this time. A very important one." He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled a name and phone number, and some GPS coordinates on it, then handed it to Leo.

"This is the local FBI agent who has been trying to track down my brother for the last ten years. He told me to call him immediately if I ever found out where Douglas was. I want you to call him right away on my behalf and give him these coordinates. Don't leave a message, don't just talk to the secretary, don't take no for an answer- do whatever it takes to get through. Call every minute and use the most annoying voice you have if you have to. Leo…" Donald knelt down and looked him right in the eye. "I need you to be the most persistent, insistent, annoying Leo you've ever been."

Leo took the paper and grinned. "I got it, Big D. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's being persistent and annoying."

* * *

"Upgrade complete," Douglas's computer said pleasantly. He bent over the controls, then looked up at Chase and smiled.

"Well? How do you feel?"

"Let me go. I don't want to be your cyber-solider," Chase said angrily. With Douglas standing right at the controls, he did not try to run away again.

"I think you'll enjoy it, once you get used to it, Chase. It's an enormous amount of power for one human being to have."

"I'll never enjoy something like that. And I'll find a way to get out of it. To escape, or to overwrite the program. I'm the smartest person alive, you know."

"The creation is never smarter than the creator, Chase."

"Adam and Bree will come for me."

Douglas looked over at a monitor hanging on the wall. "Actually, I believe they're on their way now." He motioned to two colored dots, racing across the desert. "That's their GPS signals. I set your GPS to start transmitting again. Donald must have picked up on it. Looks like they will be here any second."

Chase shook his head. "You can't overpower all three of us."

"I won't have to. That's why I have you." He smirked, and Chase recoiled in horror as he realized the full extent of what Douglas intended him to do.

"No…don't. I'll…" Chase swallowed hard, as the blips on the monitor drew closer. They were almost to his location now.

"I'll do anything you want. Just…please, don't make me hurt them."

Douglas was unmoved by this plea. "You're right about one thing. You _will_ do anything I want." They both looked up as they heard the sound of the front door opening and footsteps upstairs.

"And right now, I want you to overpower and restrain your brother and sister by whatever means necessary."

He pressed a button, and Chase felt himself slipping away. This time, instead of landing in the back of his mind, he went much, much further. Everything gradually got dim and then completely dark.

Then, for a long time, he knew nothing.

END CHAPTER


	8. The Battle

**Author's Note: We're coming down to the wire! Thanks for reading! :)**

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT- The Battle

Adam and Bree cautiously entered the front door of the house. It looked very odd, standing all alone out in the middle of the desert, but it matched the coordinates Mr. Davenport had given them. Inside, it looked like any ordinary home. Then again, so had Douglas's original hideout. There was no one around, but they could hear the faint hum of machinery coming from somewhere.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Adam asked softly.

"It matches the coordinates, and there's nothing else out here," Bree answered, speaking just as quietly as as her brother. Something about this empty place made them both feel like they needed to whisper. She looked around, then motioned to an open door at the far end of the room. She and Adam could see stairs leading down, presumably into the basement.

"Down there," she whispered, and Adam nodded. He took the lead and she followed him down nervously. Having to descend the stairs gave whoever was at the bottom a tremendous advantage. He would be able to see them before they could see him.

But there were no surprise attacks, traps, or explosions on the way down. As they stepped onto the basement floor, Bree and Adam could see Douglas standing behind a desk covered in controls. Chase was on the other side of it, standing completely still.

"Adam! Bree!" Douglas said happily. "Welcome! Long time, no see."

"This isn't a social call, Douglas," Bree said angrily.

Douglas made a 'tsk' sound with his tongue. "Is that any way to talk to your creator?"

"Just give us back our brother," Adam said.

"I'm hurt," Douglas said, placing his hand on his heart. "But if you want your brother, go ahead and get him."

Adam and Bree turned to look at Chase, who was still standing motionless in front of the desk.

"Come on, Chase. Let's go," Bree said. But Chase didn't move and didn't respond to her voice at all.

"Chase?" Adam said questioningly. He took a few steps across the room, until he was only a few feet in front of his brother. "Let's get out of here."

Finally, Chase turned to face him. With one swift movement he lunged forward, grabbed Adam, lifted him up, and threw him across the room.

"Adam!" Bree cried, rushing to his side and kneeling down to check on him. Adam appeared dazed, but not terribly hurt. As she stood back up, Bree saw Chase rushing towards her. She barely had time to speed to the side and out of Chase's grasp. He rushed her again, and again she dodged away. Several times they repeated this dance. Clearly he still had both super speed and strength.

Finally, she dodged the wrong way and ended up in the far corner at the front of room. Chase was directly in front of her. He placed one arm on each side of her, blocking her escape.

Bree looked directly into her brother's eyes. She now understood what Adam had been talking about before. They looked cold and lifeless. There was no familiarity when he looked at her.

"Chase…please. Stop. You don't want to do this."

No sign of recognition crossed her brother's face. Chase clearly viewed her as a threat, an enemy who had to be stopped.

He grabbed both of her arms and quickly flipped her around so she was facing away from him, towards the wall. Chase lifted her up and began to carry her away, towards where Douglas was. She struggled weakly, but his grip was too strong. She could feel his fingers digging into her arms, sending pain radiating up and down from her shoulders to her fingers.

They had only gone a few feet when she heard Chase grunt and felt herself being released. She stumbled, but caught herself and whirled around. Adam had recovered enough to get to his feet and come up behind Chase, grabbing him around the waist. Chase had let go of his sister and was now furiously struggling against his older brother. He managed to jerk himself free and turned to face him.

In the past, this fight would have been comically one-sided. But now Adam and Chase had the same strength. Bree watched with confused fascination as her brothers punched, kicked, and dodged. Both had the same training and were very familiar with each other's fighting style. Adam would throw a punch, which Chase would duck under. Then Chase would try to sweep Adam's legs out from under him, but Adam would easily jump over his brother's leg. She could tell that Adam was holding back a bit, not really wanting to hurt his little brother. But Chase had no such reservations.

"Adam!" Bree called out. "You have to stop him!"

Adam still looked uncertain. He was barely able to dodge Chase's next punch. He grabbed Chase's arm, but the younger boy jerked it free. Clearly tired of the stalemate, Chase used his speed to rush forward and tackle Adam around the waist, sending them both to the ground. Locked together, they struggled for a moment. Then Adam managed to push Chase off with his legs, sending him flying backwards. Chase landed on his back on the concrete floor.

Bree rushed over to try to intervene. Just as she reached Chase, he kicked his leg up, hitting her hard in the stomach. Bree bent forward and grunted in pain. She saw Chase jump up. Saw him lunge towards her. She knew he meant to grab her again, and she knew she _must not_ get caught in his grasp.

Bree dropped to the floor, and Chase's arms encircled nothing but thin air. From the ground she could see Adam standing, trying to find the best place to attack. Bree managed to roll back, out of the way, and she saw Adam rush forward and tackle his brother. Now all three of them were on the floor.

Bree stood up and for the first time since the fight began, took note of Douglas. He was still standing at the desk, watching the fight with his usual smirk. She saw him discreetly reach down and punch something in on the desk. As soon as he did, Chase got a hold of Adam and threw him off once again. He seemed even more intense than he had before.

_Of course. Douglas is controlling him._ They didn't need to take out Chase. They needed to stop Douglas!

Bree rushed across the room to her uncle and pushed him away from the desk. He glared at her and threw a punch, but she dodged it and grabbed him again, speeding them both away. They came to rest up against the wall, face to face.

Douglas glared down at her. "Not smart, Princess," he said softly, his tone deadly.

"_Don't _call me that," Bree growled through clenched teeth. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what looked like Marcus' old capsule, in the middle of the room.

Bree tightened her grip and rushed her uncle back towards the capsule. In a split-second, he was inside and she was rushing out and slamming the door shut. She hit a button on the edge of the door, hoping desperately that it activated the door lock. She was rewarded with a loud "click." Douglas gave an aggravated cry and slammed into the door several times, but the lock held firm.

Bree grinned and turned to see where Adam and Chase were. She could still here them struggling at the front of the room. She was just in time to see Chase produce a large force field, which he smashed down into a ball of light that pulsated between his hands. He threw it, and the ball slammed into Adam, sending him crashing against the wall. Bree watched in horror as her older brother slid down the wall slowly and groaned.

She glanced at the desk. Though Douglas was not putting in new commands, Chase was still clearly under the control of whatever program Douglas had been running before. She rushed to the desk and desperately scanned the controls, trying to make sense of them, but they were overwhelming. Buttons, levers, keypads, switches…

"Adam!" she cried. She heard him moan again and saw him try to push himself back up into a standing position. But her shout had also caught Chase's attention.

"Adam! The desk! The controls! Blast-"

She felt the rush of air and Chase was standing next to her.

Then his hand was around her throat.

Chase's hand felt like a steel vice gripping her neck. Bree couldn't speak, couldn't finish telling Adam that he needed to blast the controls. Chase lifted her up off the ground so that her feet dangled and held her there, suspended. He stared right into her eyes with that same unknowing look he had before.

As she struggled against him, he tightened his grip even more. Bree knew that, with his newfound strength, he could snap her neck with the tiniest movement. She could barely get any air in now. And she had lost track of Adam, as he was no longer in her line of vision. All she could see was Chase cruelly glaring at her.

Bree knew Adam's first instinct would probably be to save her, but she hoped he would go for the controls. They had to destroy them or this fight might go on forever. Weakly, she raised her right arm and pointed to her eyes, then back at the desk, hoping Adam would understand what she meant. She tried to repeat the motion, but found she could no longer lift her arm. Her whole body was tingling, and her head was dizzy….black spots were flashing in front of her eyes…

Dimly, Bree felt a blast of heat behind her. She heard several pops and a loud bang, but it sounded far away. "Chase…" she tried to whisper, but nothing would come out.

* * *

Chase came out of the darkness quickly. It was like being asleep and being jerked awake by a sudden and unexpected noise. Where there had been nothing, it was suddenly replaced by lights and sounds. He blinked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

He was still in Douglas's lab. Somehow, Bree was directly in front of him, looking like she was about to pass out. A hand was clamped around her throat.

_It was his hand._

Horrified, Chase let go and scrambled back so quickly that he tripped and fell. Both he and his sister hit the ground almost at the same time. He leaned up on his elbows and looked around desperately, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

Bree was coughing and trying to take in large gasps of air. Adam knelt beside her, looking concerned. She finally recovered and got her breathing under control, and Adam helped her to her feet.

Then they both looked down at their brother, who was still watching them from the floor.

"Where's Douglas?" Chase asked, looking around nervously.

Neither Adam nor Bree answered, but Adam pointed towards the capsule. Chase looked over and saw his uncle locked up in the same place he had been for the past day. He felt himself relax a bit.

Chase looked back up at his brother and sister. When he saw the look in their eyes, his heart sank. _They're afraid of me._

"Guys," he said shakily. "It's…me. _Just_ me. I promise."

Adam and Bree looked at each other. Finally, Adam took a step forward and extended his hand. Chase reached up for it and found himself being jerked to his feet and pulled forward into a huge hug from his brother. The tension in his body seemed to evaporate at that moment. After a moment's hesitation, he felt Bree work her way in-between, with one arm around each of her brothers.

He couldn't bear to look at her, but Chase leaned over and whispered in her ear.  
"I'm sorry….I'm sorry….I'm so sorry…"

"It's OK," she murmured back. "It wasn't you."

They were so engrossed in their hug that none of them noticed Donald creep quietly down the stairs. He surveyed the scene with satisfaction, particularly when he saw his brother locked up in the capsule. He crossed the room and stood directly in front of the door, so they were face to face.

Donald motioned to the siblings. "That's what you could have had," he said sadly. "Three wonderful kids. A real family. But you treated them like weapons."

"They ARE weapons," Douglas spat out coldly.

"They are HUMAN BEINGS!" Donald cried, so loudly that the three kids looked up in surprise. "Wonderful human beings. But you'll never know who they really are. You're going to jail for a long, long time."

"He is?" Bree asked.

Donald nodded. "Douglas has been making and selling illegal weapons to terrorists and rebel groups all over the world for the past 15 years. He's wanted by the FBI, CIA, Interpol, the Federales, Mossad…if an international law-enforcement agency has a list, he's on it. I had Leo call my FBI contact after I left. He texted me a few minutes ago saying they're on their way." Donald looked back at his brother. "He won't be able to bother us again. Ever."

"That's what you think, Donnie," Douglas said softly, his mouth turning up into a smirk.

The kids had turned away and were checking each other for injuries, so they didn't hear Douglas's remark. But Donald did. He studied his brother, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Douglas slowly moved his right hand down to his waist. For the first time, Donald noticed a small black plastic box with a single button on it, clipped to his belt. Donald frowned. _How many remotes does this guy have?_

"Don't you remember, Donnie? Always have a last resort plan," Douglas said cryptically.

Desperately, Donald searched the memory banks of his mind, trying to figure out what Douglas was getting at. Vaguely, he remembered a conversation from years ago, when they were still working together, creating technology that would forever change mankind, for better or for worse.

"_A self-destruct button? Like in cartoons? That's the dumbest idea you've had yet, Douglas."_

"_It's not a dumb idea! This technology could do a lot of damage in the wrong hands. It could also be stolen and reproduced. We need to protect ourselves, our hard work, and our investment!"_

"_How is blowing up what we worked so hard to create 'protecting our investment?'"_

"_I'm telling you, Donnie. You don't want this stuff to fall into the wrong hands."_

It had been much later before Donald had realized that Douglas's hands _were_ the wrong hands. He looked up at his brother, with a panicked look on his face.

"You wouldn't…"

"If I can't have him, then neither can you," Douglas said quietly.

He began to laugh, softly at first, but gradually growing louder as he pressed the button.

Donald whirled around to look at his kids, his heart in his throat. They seemed OK at first. But Chase's expression quickly changed to one of confusion. He looked down, like he was dizzy, and reached out a hand and took Adam's arm, steadying himself.

"Mr. Davenport?" Chase asked weakly. "I….I don't feel so good…"

END CHAPTER


	9. The Resolution

**Author's Note: Wow, guys, I am so sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was throw down a big cliffhanger and leave you hanging for a week, but that is exactly what I did. I am truly sorry. Real life stuff, and busy, and blah blah blah…**

**Anyway, this is the final chapter of "Traitor." It's pretty long and I almost divided it up, but I think it flows pretty well so I'm going to leave it together. Besides, why should you have to wait any longer?**

**I was nervous when I first posted this story and didn't know what to expect. But I've honestly been blown away by the kind, enthusiastic, and intelligent reviews so many of you have left. I love hearing from you, and I feel like I've made some new friends in this fandom. Thank you for taking this journey with me. -88Keys**

CHAPTER NINE- The Resolution

Donald's mind raced. There were a thousand things he wanted to do and say to his brother. Most of which involved punching him in the face and saying something along the lines of "_How could you do this to a kid who is basically your son?"_ But there was no time to talk. Chase was growing weaker and more confused by the second. Adam and Bree were helping to hold him up, and both looked at Donald with confusion and fear on their faces.

"What's wrong with him?" Bree asked.

Donald ignored Douglas's chuckling behind him and rushed over to his children. "Bree, get Chase home now, and then come back for me. _Hurry."_ She immediately obeyed, and the two of them were up the stairs and out the front door in a flash.

"Adam, stay here with Douglas until the authorities arrive. Don't listen to anything he says or let him talk you into doing anything. Above all, _do not let him out of the capsule. _Make sure he doesn't get away. You can drive my car back home." He finished by tossing Adam the keys.

"Better hurry, Donnie!" Douglas called out gleefully as Bree rushed back into the room. "Do you have ten minutes left? Five? _One?!"_

Donald resisted the urge to shut his brother up permanently as he climbed on Bree's back. He knew the boys took these rides with their sister all the time, but it was all new to him. It was definitely more bumpy and windy than riding in his super-speed car, but right now he didn't care. His only thought was to get back to Chase. Thankfully, they were home within a couple of minutes.

Chase was kneeling in front of his capsule, apparently now too weak to stand. His hands were shaking, and he kept blinking his eyes and looking around in confusion, as if he were having trouble seeing.

"What's wrong with him?" Bree asked again. "What do we do?"

Donald wasn't sure, but he had a pretty good guess. "Get me the chip extractor. Now!" It was in his hand within a second.

Donald knelt down next to Chase. The boy was now shaking all over, and it was too hard for Donald to hold the extractor against his neck. He gently pushed Chase down onto the floor.

"Bree, hold him down!"

Chase's breath was coming in short gasps now. Donald knew there were only seconds left. He pushed the extractor against Chase's neck as hard as he could and pulled the handle. After a few agonizing seconds, the chip appeared.

Donald grabbed it and tossed it across the room. He shook his finger- the chip was hot to the touch. He and Bree watched as the chip changed from gray to yellow to red. Finally it exploded with a loud "POP!", sending a shower of sparks into the air.

Donald and Bree were still staring at the destroyed chip when they heard a shaky voice from below them.

"Mr. Davenport? What just happened?"

He and Bree quickly helped Chase to his feet. "Chase, are you all right?" Donald asked, checking him over for burns. "Do you feel any weakness? How's your vision? And your hearing?"

"I feel OK," Chase said, blinking his eyes and turning his head. "I can see. And hear. But what happened? Why did my chip explode like that?"

Donald hesitated, not wanting to tell Chase that his father had tried to destroy him. "Well, your chip…malfunctioned. I'll have to do a scan to be sure, but I think it was sending out electric impulses which were affecting your nerves, muscles, vision, etc. That's why you were getting dizzy and having trouble seeing."

Donald could almost see Chase's inquisitive mind working all this out. "So if you hadn't removed it…"

Donald glanced at Bree, then back at Chase. He sighed. There was no point in lying. Chase was too smart for that, and he deserved to know the truth. "Most likely, the explosion would have fried your bionic network. And it probably…well, it probably would have stopped your heart."

Chase stared hard at him. "Why did it malfunction? Was it Douglas?"

"Chase…"

"He tried to kill me."

Donald swallowed hard. "Chase, I'm sorry."

Bree looked surprised, then angry, but Chase just looked down at the floor. "No, I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have gone off alone, and I shouldn't have confronted Douglas…I just-"

"Chase, stop." Donald put a hand on his shoulder. "Just stop. You don't need to apologize or explain anything. Not right now. Right now, you need to get something to eat and get some rest." He sniffed the air a couple of times. "And maybe a shower." Chase managed to raise his head and smile at this.

Donald pulled him into a quick hug. "Are you s_ure _you're OK? Douglas didn't hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Really," Chase responded. "Just really glad to be home. And _really_ hungry."

Donald's eyes narrowed. "Didn't Douglas feed you while you were gone?"

Chase shrugged. "A little."

That urge to smash his brother's face in became even stronger, but before he could go off on a tirade, Bree intervened. "Come on, Chase," she said, taking her brother by the arm. "Let's go find something to eat."

* * *

The three of them found Tasha and Leo upstairs. After hugging and fussing over Chase, Tasha began emptying the fridge and cabinets and laying the contents on the kitchen counter. The five of them were about to dig in to the hastily assembled meal of leftovers when Adam walked in the front door. His eyes went first to Chase, then lit up as he saw the assemblage of food lying out on the counter.

"Did the authorities come for Douglas?" Donald asked him.

"Yup," Adam answered simply. He tossed the car keys to Donald and grabbed a slice of leftover pizza for himself.

"Did they have any trouble taking him into custody?"

"Nope." Adam took a large bite of pizza and said something unintelligible around it.

"Adam, swallow first, then talk," Bree said, turning away in disgust at the sight of Adam chewing with his mouth wide open.

Adam swallowed and then repeated himself. "I said 'he was unconscious when they got there.'"

The others stared at him in confusion. "Why was he unconscious?" Donald asked.

Adam shrugged. "He wouldn't shut up, and I got sick of listening to him. So I made him be quiet." He grinned, looking pleased with himself, and Donald couldn't stop himself from grinning back. Even Chase looked at him with a mix of surprise and gratitude.

"Hey, cool! Sandwiches!" Adam said, grabbing one in each hand.

For a while, they were mostly quiet as they focused on eating. The pile of food gradually got smaller. Eventually, Tasha noticed that Chase had slowed his eating and was mostly picking at his food.

"Chase?" she asked. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah," he answered, "but there's something I need to say." He turned his head to the side so that he was facing Adam and Bree.

"Guys, I'm …I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have gone off alone. Douglas contacted me after school a couple of days ago. He told me he could upgrade my chip, and give me even more abilities. I thought I could take him down, bring him back to Mr. Davenport. Get him out of our lives for good."

"Why didn't you tell us, Chase?" Bree asked.

"Because I didn't want to put you in danger. I don't know exactly how, but Douglas has been spying on us, and listening to us. If I told you guys, he would have been onto my plan." Chase hesitated for a moment, but then continued.

"And maybe a part of me thought it would be awesome if I could take him down myself. Show you guys that I'm not just a big brain, and that I don't need "hustle and muscle" to get the job done." He looked down at his nearly empty plate. "I know it was really stupid of me."

Adam and Bree glanced at each other. "We're the stupid ones," Adam said sadly.

"Yeah," Bree agreed. "We never meant to make you feel like you weren't part of the team. You're our leader, and we need you. Probably more than you need us."

Chase looked surprised. "That's not true."

"No, it isn't," Donald agreed. "You guys are a team for a reason. Your abilities are made to complement one another. Together, you're greater than the sum of your parts. And none of you should be going off on missions by yourselves, for any reason."

"I guess it doesn't matter anymore, anyway," Chase said. "I mean…with my chip destroyed, I'm…I'm not bionic anymore, am I?"

Adam, Leo, and Tasha looked at Chase, confused. "Not bionic anymore?" Leo asked. "What do you mean?"

None of them knew what had happened in the lab earlier. But Bree did. Her eyes widened at Chase's words. The full implications of what had happened had not occurred to her until just then. Being bionic was a part of who each of them was. And now, thanks to Douglas, Chase had just lost a massive part of himself.

Everyone at the table looked at Donald with mild panic in their eyes, except for Chase, who was staring sadly down at his plate. "Mr. Davenport," Bree asked desperately. "Isn't there something you can do?"

Donald held up his hand. "Take it easy, everyone. Don't panic. As usual, I have a solution."

"After our last encounter with Douglas, I started thinking that making a back-up copy of each of your chips would be a good idea. We never know when one of them will get damaged beyond repair. Plus, with new chips with different GPS signals, it would make it harder for Douglas to locate you. The technology in the chips is very complicated and hard to replicate, so I've been working on them for months now." Donald looked reassuringly at Chase. "Give me a few more days, Chase, and I think I can finish yours up and install it."

Chase smiled the first genuine and grateful smile anyone had seen out of him in days. "Thank you, Mr. Davenport."

"And as soon as I can finish them, I want you two to get new chips as well. Like I said, it will make it harder for Douglas to track you in the future."

"I thought you said he was going to jail," Adam said.

"He is, but I don't want to take any chances. We've underestimated him too many times," Donald replied.

"You know, Big D, if you don't have any plans for the old chips, I know someone who would be open to trying one out," Leo said hopefully.

"NO," Tasha said forcefully. She handed Leo her empty plate. "Why don't you use your powers of tidiness to clear the table?"

Leo frowned as he stood and began gathering the empty plates. "You know my powers of tidiness are non-existent," he grumbled.

"Here, Leo. I'll help you," Bree said. She and her brothers all pitched in, picking up the dishes and leftover food.

Tasha and Donald looked at each other, surprised but pleased to see their children working together instead of arguing over who had to clean up the kitchen after a meal. Donald put his arm around his wife and she leaned on him gratefully, suddenly realizing how tired she felt.

"Just put the extra food in the fridge and pile the dishes in the sink," she told the kids. "We can deal with them tomorrow. I think everyone needs to head straight to bed and get some sleep."

For once, none of the kids argued about having an early bedtime.

"Chase," Donald called out as the bionic siblings started to head down to the lab. "Douglas was right about your chip having the capacity for upgrades. If you want, I could try to add the additional abilities he gave you onto the new chip. Speed, strength-"

"NO!" Chase cried so forcefully that his siblings looked up in surprise. "I don't want anything of his to be a part of me. I mean, I know all of our abilities came from him, but I…I just want things to go back to the way they were before."

Donald nodded. "No problem. I'll start on it first thing in the morning."

Adam pushed the button to open the elevator doors and watched Chase intently as he stepped inside. "Here, I'll hit the button for you. Do you need me to carry you to your capsule? Oh, and brush your teeth for you?" He reached out to pick up his little brother, who shoved him away good-naturedly.

"Adam, chill out. I'm fine."

* * *

_Two days later_

Chase yawned sleepily and opened his eyes. It was night, and he was in his capsule at home, trying to sleep. So far, since he had returned, he had not had any nightmares. Still, he found himself waking several times a night. Automatically, his eyes roamed the lab, checking to make sure it was secure and his siblings were safe in their capsules.

Adam was still to his right, snoring away. But when he looked to the left, Chase was surprised to see that Bree's capsule was empty. He looked out into the lab just in time to see a flash of long brown hair as the elevator doors closed.

For a moment, he mentally debated whether or not to follow her. Bree craved privacy from her brothers more than anything. Plus, her leaving her capsule could be nothing more than the desire for a late night snack or a phone call to Caitlin. Still, something told Chase that he should check on her. They hadn't really talked since that evening in the study, before he went with Douglas. Although his siblings had been more than nice to him since his return, Chase knew there were still things that had been left unsaid between his sister and him.

He found her in the living room, sitting on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked up as he entered the room, but didn't say anything.

"Bree? Are you OK?"

"Yeah," she replied quietly. "Just couldn't sleep."

"Bad dream?" he asked as he crossed the living room and sat down next to his sister on the couch.

She shook her head. "No. Just…thinking, I guess."

"About what?"

Bree was silent for a moment before finally answering. "Chase…why did you go off alone?"

"You mean with Douglas?"

"No…I mean, yeah, that...but not just that. Why did you go to Antarctica alone?"

Chase was surprised. "Antarctica? Why do you want to know about that? That was a long time ago."

"Well, you're always lecturing Adam and I about safety, and about working together as a team, but you went on a dangerous mission all by yourself. Why did you do it?"

Now it was Chase's turn to think for a moment. "Well, I guess…I guess I wanted to prove to you and Adam that I could handle a mission without you. That I didn't need speed or strength to be effective. And apparently, I was wrong."

He looked over at Bree, but she was looking down at the floor. "Have you been upset with me about that this whole time?"

"No," Bree said quickly. Then she sighed. "I mean, yeah, I guess I have, a little bit. Chase… you almost died. When we pulled you out of the snow…I thought you were dead." She finally dared to raise her head and look at her brother directly. "You really scared me."

"I didn't mean to-"

"And then," she interrupted, her voice rising in pitch as she spoke, "as if that wasn't enough, you go off and try to capture Douglas by yourself. And it was after we had that big fight, and I guess I thought, maybe…maybe Adam and I drove you away. Like, we were too hard on you or something, so you decided to leave us."

Chase stared at his sister in surprise. "Well…you and Adam do pick on me a lot. You make fun of my genius. And I guess it does get to me, sometimes."

"Well," she replied, "you do kind of throw your genius in our faces a lot."

Chase looked down. "I know I do. But it's all I have, you know? Being smart and leading missions is who I am. It's all I'm good at."

Bree gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "Are you serious? You're good at _everything_, Chase. Computers, robots, gadgets, school, missions-"

"Because of my bionics!" Chase interrupted.

"What?"

Chase sighed. "If you take away Adam's strength, he's still going to be Adam. If you take away your speed, you're still Bree. My bionics affect my brain. If I wasn't smart…I don't know who I would be."

Bree stared in shock at this revelation. She had never really thought of Chase as insecure. In fact, she usually thought he was the opposite. She had never considered that his bionics might cause him to question himself as a person, or that there was a difference between a physical ability and a mental one.

Somehow, she knew that her response was going to be very important to Chase. She reached down carefully and patted him on the hand.

"You would still be our brother. Who we…you know…love."

Chase looked down at their hands. "And you guys are my family. I would never betray you, no matter how much you annoyed me. I went with Douglas on my own. It was my own choice. And it was really, really stupid of me. He knew exactly what to say to suck me in, and I fell for it. I guess I'm not as smart as I thought I was."

"You're still smart, Chase," Bree explained patiently. "And you're still a good leader, even though Adam and I sometimes act like you aren't. You just made a mistake. We all do that, sometimes. Even me."

Chase faked surprise. "You make mistakes? Really?"

Bree smiled for the first time since she and Chase began talking. "I know it's hard to believe, but it happens. Like…not being honest with you, and letting the fight go on too long. Those were mistakes."

"Well, I did try to strangle you, so I'd saw we're even now."

His tried to sound light-hearted, but Bree didn't laugh. Instead, she looked at him fiercely.

"Don't ever say that. I told you, it wasn't you."

"But I could have killed you," he replied, becoming more distressed.

Bree shook her head. "Not you. Douglas."

"You still have bruises on your neck!"

Bree looked him directly in the eyes. "It. Wasn't. You. I don't blame you, and I don't want you to blame yourself. OK?"

Chase looked at her, but did not respond.

"OK?!" she repeated forcefully.

"OK! Jeez," he finally said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I get it."

They both sat in silence for a few moments, until Chase yawned. "So," he said, "now that we got all that worked out, wanna go back to bed?"

Bree shook her head. "I'm wide awake now. What do you usually do when you can't sleep?"

Chase reached over and picked up the remote control. "Well, I find a session of fighting demons and slaughtering zombies to be soothing most of the time."

Bree rolled her eyes. "Video games? Lame."

Chase turned on the TV. "Afraid you'll lose?"

Bree narrowed her eyes. "To you? Please. I can slaughter circles around you."

Chase tossed her the controller. "Prove it."

After a few minutes of playing, Chase quickly realized that winning wasn't going to be as easy as he had originally thought. Bree wasn't familiar with the game, but her natural speed meant she could hit the controller buttons much faster than Chase. Even by accident, she managed to take his character down in record time.

"No fair using bionics!" Chase whined as Bree's character rapidly circled his own.

"You guys are having an all-night video game session, and you didn't tell me?"

Chase turned around as Leo's voice unexpectedly sounded behind them. "Leo?"

The sound of an explosion on-screen made him turn back around. "Bree! What was that?!"

"My plasma grenade." Bree smiled sweetly as "GAME OVER" flashed on the screen.

"I've got winner!" Leo cried as he jumped over the back of the couch and settled next to his sister.

* * *

Donald Davenport was used to being the first one up in his house hold. This was often because he had stayed up most of the night, either working his newest invention or thinking about his next big idea.

After the stress of searching for his missing son, Donald had slept soundly the past two nights. Today he rose early, determined to finish Chase's new chip and get it installed. Tasha donned her bath robe and joined him, and together they made their way down the stairs. In the living room, they found an unexpected sight.

Leo was stretched out on the far end of the couch, sound asleep. In the middle was Bree, lying with her head in the opposite direction, towards the kitchen. Chase sat next to her, his head thrown back over the couch cushions, snoring softly. The television was still on, displaying the start screen of "Demon Zombie Deathmatch" over and over again.

Donald and Tasha looked at each other, surprised but pleased. "Looks like they made up," she said softly, gently touching Donald's arm.

Across the room, the elevator doors opened and Adam stepped out, still in his pajamas. He caught sight of the group on the couch and threw up his hands in frustration.

"Did I miss another all-night video game session?!"

THE END


End file.
